“I will try to make sure she’s not as rude to you, Jed.”
I think it’s already too late, but when I told Jed that I will try to reel her in, he laughed and said “You don’t have to mind it.”
“How long have you known Giselle for?”
“Just around ten years.”
“Ten years, huh…”
He gave me a meaningful look.
Is it strange that we have known each other for ten years? Tilting my head, I asked, “Is something the matter?” I asked.
“Well, just that you have known her for long…”
“Indeed.”
I guess Giselle is the one who understands me best now.
When I reached the bottom of the stairs, Giselle, who was sitting on the sofa in the lobby, ran up to me and said, “Miss Elle!” We both smiled wryly at each other when she parked between Jed and I.
“Well then, shall we go?”
After leaving the inn, we walked with Giselle guiding us.
The city, which had been bustling during the day, was now quiet, and the lights were fading as well.
“Giselle, where are we going?”
“A back alley. He’s been in the same place since a while ago, so he might be in the middle of a crime.”
“We’d better hurry then.”
As we walked into the alleyway, I heard voices in the distance.
It’s not just one or two people. There were at least five of them. It might just be a bunch of people making noise, but it’s better to be alert.
“You really should be more careful.”
“We will get caught.”
“It’s fine, I fooled them well.”
The moment the uncomfortable conversation reached my ears, I stopped in my tracks. Giselle and Jed stopped too.
We listened in on the men’s conversation as we moved in the shadows.
“We wouldn’t have to do this if the guards patrolled properly in the first place.”
It’s impossible, the security forces in this city are unwilling to do anything. They don’t care if there’s an incident or not.”
“I wish they’d think about the people who live in the alleyways…”
What I heard were complaints against the patrol guards.
When I glanced at them, I saw that the men were pasting the insects they had killed on the walls of the alleyway with cumbersome expressions on their faces.
I almost screamed because I’m not good with bugs.
“Elle, your face is pale.”
“You are poor with bugs, so don’t overdo it.”
“I’m fine… rather than that, I think it would be better to inquire from those people about what is going on here.”
They didn’t seem to be gluing bugs to the walls because they simply wanted to. They were complaining about the patrol guards, too. There must be some circumstance that would make them do such a stupid thing. But I don’t want to get close to anyone with bugs.
“Elle, Giselle, I will catch them so you guys wait for a moment.”
Jed ran off towards the men. I couldn’t leave him alone after all, so I ran out too, and Gisele followed, saying, “I’m going too.”
The men looked surprised by our appearance. There was only one man among them. Only one of them, the one who had been captured by Jed during the day, looked pale.
“A, are you perhaps from the patrol guards?”
“Idiot, there’s no way those people would come over here.”
The men only looked frightened, but not hostile.
Looks like we can have a talk.
“We just want to have a little talk with you. Can you tell us what’s going and what exactly are you trying to accomplish by doing this?”
The men looked at each other as I spoke softly and calmly, trying not to frighten them or make them run away. Then they let out a sigh of resignation.
“We will speak if you don’t tell the scum from the patrol guards.”
I nodded when the leader-like guy spoke.